So Rick Santorum believes that the scandal of child molestation by priests isn't actually the priests' fault, but the culture's. And when he talks about "the culture," it sure sounds like he's blaming the Jews.
In his article for the website Catholic Online, Santorum writes:
"It is startling that those in the media and academia appear most disturbed by this aberrant behavior, since they have zealously promoted moral relativism by sanctioning "private" moral matters such as alternative lifestyles. Priests, like all of us, are affected by culture. When the culture is sick, every element in it becomes infected. While it is no excuse for this scandal, it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm."
So priests aren't really responsible for their own aberrant behavior; they're victims too.
But look more closely at the environment Santorum is blaming: liberals, the media, and academics. Hmm. Starts to sound like code for something else, doesn't it?
Especially when you consider more closely the demographics of the area at which Santorum points his accusing finger. The state's Republican governor is a Mormon. Boston has some Yankee-Protestant types, an African-American population (quite religious, by the way), a fair number of Jews...and Catholics. Lots and lots of Catholics. Irish Catholics, Italian Catholics, Portuguese Catholics, Asian Catholics. The state's U.S. senators are both Catholic. Boston College is a Catholic school.
Surely Santorum can't be saying that Catholics themselves created the "sick" environment in which priests couldn't help but fondle children?
No, that's clearly not his intent.
So we return to the media and the non-Catholic universities, both chock full of the people ostensibly behind all this moral relativity: Jews. Because I'm sure it's not all those other churchgoing types that Santorum blames for Boston's "sick" culture.
What Santorum is really saying thenâusing all-too-familiar code wordsâ is that the Catholic Church child molestation scandal is really the Jews' fault.
Good luck with that one, Senator. But maybe you should stick to something you really know. Like, say, the physiological condition of Terri Schiavo.